The Nordic Biker War was a gang war that began in January 1994 and continued until September 1997 in parts of Scandinavia and Finland, involving the Hells Angels and Bandidos outlaw motorcycle clubs. The conflict is also known as the Great Nordic Biker War or Second Biker War (Danish: anden rockerkrig) to distinguish it from the earlier Copenhagen Biker War, which took place between 1983 and 1985.[5][6]
The conflict arose from disputes over territory and organized crime rackets, as well as personal feuds within the biker subculture. Specifically, the members of both groups sought a monopoly on the right to engage in crime in certain geographical areas.[7] The war resulted in the killings of nine gang members, with shootings and bombings totalling another 74 attempted murders.[8] The bikers utilized car bombs, machine guns, hand grenades, anti-tank missiles and small arms during their gang war, and assassination attempts were even made inside prisons.[9] The majority of the hostilities took place in or around Copenhagen in Denmark, Helsinki in Finland, Oslo in Norway, and Helsingborg in Sweden.[10]
The biker war was also costly for the police, who struggled to put an end to the murders. In overtime for police officers alone, the cost was set at around 50–75 million kroner.[11][12] On 15 October 1996, a bill, known as the Rockerloven [da] ("Rocker Act") in the media, was passed in the Folketing (Danish Parliament) which allows the police to evict motorcycle gangs from their headquarters.[13][14][15] As a result of the 1996–1997 period of the conflict alone, 138 people were sentenced to a total of 240 years in prison.[16][17] Several of those convicted were given life imprisonment for murder and attempted murder.[18] Specific wings for motorcycle gang members were created at Vridsløselille Prison and Horsens State Prison.[19] Significant improvements were also made to the security of military weapons depots as a result of the Nordic Biker War after several burglaries.[20]
The conflict effectively came to an end in the summer of 1997 when the two sides reached a peace agreement, with the well-known defence lawyer Thorkild Høyer [da] as mediator. On 25 September 1997, Bent Svane Nielsen of the Hells Angels and then-Bandidos president Jim Tinndahn announced during a press conference that the rival clubs had ended their war. Nielsen stated "We cannot give guarantees that there will be no more incidents, but we can actively intervene and ensure that those who defy the cooperation agreement are excluded from our biker culture."[21][22]
^ abcdSweden's Courteous Police Spoil A Hell's Angels Clubhouse Party Youssef M. Ibrahim, The New York Times (3 March 1997) Archived 25 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine
^Report: FBI to open Nordic office United Press International (10 August 1996) Archived 11 September 2023 at archive.today
^ abcdefPer Larsen (2005). Den store Nordiske Rockerkrig. Dansk Politi-Idræts Forlag A/S. ISBN 87-987446-1-5.
^ abElva dödade och 96 skadade i mc-kriget Lars-Olof Strömberg, Kvällsposten (7 March 2017) Archived 25 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine
^Scandinavian approaches to outlaw motorcycle gangs Synnøve Økland Jahnsen, Australian Institute of Criminology (April 2018)
^Rockere – historisk baggrund Carsten Fenger-Grøn and Malene Grøndahl, faktalink.dk (2002) Archived 20 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine
^Statusrapport Kriminalitet forøvet af rockere og bander 2009 Rigspolitiet (March 2009)
^Bog går bag om rockerkrigen Berlingske (25 August 1999) Archived 1 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine
^'Blondie' med i sin tredje krig Jan Søgaard, Berlingske (29 October 2009) Archived 29 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine
^"Angels of Death: Inside the Bikers' Empire of Crime". Randomhouse.ca. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
^Nervøsitet efter rockerdrab Ekstra Bladet (12 August 2000) Archived 1 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine
^Rockerlov, rockerforbud eller retssikkerhed Jakob Stensgaard, faklen.dk Archived 1 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine
^Jurist: Svært at bruge rockerlov Karsten Stefansdottir Egekvist, Politiken (16 September 2008) Archived 3 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine
^Rockerloven er en glidebane Jakob Stensgaard and Magasinet Faklen, Dagbladet Information (15 October 1997) Archived 3 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine
^Rockerloven 1996 Retsinformation (29 March 2014) Archived 3 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine
^Fængslerne frygter en ny rockerkrig Jakob Stig Jørgensen, Politiken (20 September 2012) Archived 3 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine
^Efterforskningschef: Vi vil ikke stå med et endnu større problem om få dage Pia Buhl Andersen, Politiken (19 September 2012) Archived 7 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine
^Politichef forsvarer sig mod ros fra advokat Niels Rohleder, Dagbladet Information (31 August 1999) Archived 7 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine
^Dømte rockere skal samles i københavnske fængsler Carsten Ellegaard, Jyllands-Posten (13 November 2002)
^Folketingets Finansudvalg Folketing (2 May 2001)
^Skudoffer har selv to liv på samvittigheden Niels Holst, Politiken (29 October 2009)
^Rockerfred? danske-nyheder.dk (25 September 1997)
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